SBIR-STTR Award

This proposal describes a means of leveraging the multi-billion dollar investment that has been made in GPS navigation Systems and components. It will produce a low-cost, low-power, credit-card sized head tracking and motion capture system suitable for use with vehicle simulators, trainers and operational VR systems which is much less sensitive to occlusion, interference and multi-path contamination than existing solutions. We have looked at the requirements for motion capture systems and concluded that the same principles of Operation that made OPS successful as a navigation system can be applied to a local area tracking and motion capture system with excellent, cost-effective results. We also believe that integrated circuits, crystals, RF filters and algorithms developed for low-cost GPS navigation receivers can be re-purposed for motion capture systems resulting in construction of mature tracking systems inside shortened development cycles. Such a tracking subsystem could become a workhorse for the military and commercial motion capture markets. The online industry is actively constructing immersive virtual worlds which improve upon video conferencing because people "enter into" the media for interaction. Motion capture is a cornerstone technology for this new virtual communications market.

A need exists for a real-time, 6 degree of freedom (DOF), wireless head tracker for simultaneous use by multiple operators in a confined area. The proposed development project will produce a low-cost head tracking and motion capture technology suitable for use with vehicle simulators, trainers and operational VR systems which is much less sensitive to occlusion, interference and multi-path contamination than existing solutions. The proposal describes an innovative means of leveraging the multi-billion dollar investment that has been made in Global Positioning System (GPS( navigation. In designing this system to accommodate multiple simultaneous operators, Lionhearth has analyzed the challenging NEAR-FAR problem associated with all GPS code division multiple access (CDMA) systems and has achieved a technological breakthrough. The novel approach will allow for the millimeter tracking accuracy that is necessary for motion capture applications. BENEFITS

Keywords:
Motion Capture Head Tracker Virtual Environments Gps Dismounted Soldier Training